All Quiet Journal Project
June 5, 1917
Dear Journal,
The first World War draft is today. I have decided to be in the army because I felt the need to serve my country after looking at all the posters. Looking at our American flag stand tall made me have a sense of pride for my country and I wanted to help my country when it is in need. There is not much here for me to do other than running my father’s shop. My little brother Timmy is old enough to help my father also so for me being here would be selfish. Tomorrow I leave to Camp Dodge. It’s not to far from where I live so I am a bit familiar with the place. I took the rest of the day to pack my things and get ready for my take off into war. I have to admit, I felt a little bit anxious.
May 17, 1918
Dear Journal,
I am part of the 88th Division at Camp Dodge. Training is harsh in this camp. We ate very little and we slept very little. Food here isn’t the best because all we ate were canned foods. Our morning run was two miles today instead of one because somebody decided to take get extra sleep where he was not there for role call. Later we needed to practice putting up barbed wire which resulted as a disaster. I got my hand caught in one of the wires and it bled quite a bit. My hand was wrapped with socks because we had a short supply of bandages. The Sergeant Major also would not excuse me for the rest of our training exercises. This meant I still had to do a thousand pushups and go through all the obstacles. What a pain! The only good part of the day was taking practice shots with my new rifle. I am very exhausted and I am closing this journal early today.
September 10, 1918,
My division arrived at France today in the small town of Semur. Here we settled to do some intensive training over grain fields and unused pastures. While doing our training exercises, I met a few French soldiers. They spoke very little English but it is fun to hear how they speak French. We shared lunch and dinner with each other until I had to get back to my division. It wasn’t to long until new orders came in. The orders were we had to move by a gun mounted rail to a French Division and relieve them. This will not happen until a few days so I still had time to spare with my new friends. I decided to go over and see if the French soldiers wanted to play cards. They gladly accepted and we ended up having a great time. Unfortunately I had a feeling this wouldn’t last.
October 25, 1918
Dear Journal,
Today was devastating. I woke up and found a big, fat rat crawling on my boot. It nearly bit a hole down to my socks. Breakfast was small today because of our limited number of supplies. Many of us had growling stomachs the rest of the day. There wasn’t anything to do other than keep watch or play cards. This went through the rest of the day. Night settled in and unexpectedly, one of our soldiers yelled “Gas, Gas!” We put on our gas masks hoping we wouldn’t breathe any of this poison gas. Fortunately the gas did not reach to our base camps. The ones at the front were not so lucky. They were treated for severe internal bleeding. We later found out this gas was code named “Mustard Gas.” Later I also learned that this was first of many attacks by Germany which brought many soldiers in fear. I then had to witness the people that came back breathing in the poisonous gas. They looked as pale as white paint. Looking at them made me sick so I am going to try to sleep off this day.
Novemer 11, 1918
Dear Journal,
Today is a good day because the signing armistice took place. This meant that the war has finally come to the end. This also meant that I can finally come home to my little brother and father. The whole day everyone was excited and relieved. After witnessing the horrors of war, I think everyone is without a doubt glad that it has come to an end. Throughout the day, men sat down and rested until new orders were given for us leave France and back to our homeland of America. Everyone was too exhausted and there was no celebration. I can not sleep tonight so I am going through my whole journal and see what experiences I have encountered for the past two years.